250 docs skip mandatory govt service

250 docs skip mandatory govt service

Violate Service Bond Signed When Joining TN Colleges

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:04.12.2020

Over the past four years, more than 250 doctors including cardiologists, nephrologists, vascular and neurosurgeons who completed their super speciality courses in Tamil Nadu have not joined government service, a gross violation of the two-year service bond they signed during admission at state-run medical colleges.

At the time of admission, all doctors sign a service bond. While in-service doctors commit to remain in service till superannuation, those outside government service promise to serve the government for at least two years or pay a fine of ₹50 lakh. “The state can post non-service candidates to any of its hospitals within two years of course completion. But only 30% of them join duty. None of them have paid the fine,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu.

State medical education department officials say a majority prefer to study at government medical colleges as the annual tuition fee is around ₹30,000 compared to ₹25 lakh in the private sector. The government also pays students a monthly stipend of ₹40,000 as super speciality students, who are post-graduates, also work at the medical college hospital while they learn.

PG students also have better chances of getting a higher speciality medical seat in Tamil Nadu as the state offers the maximum number of seats after Delhi. According to the National Medical Commission, nearly 14% of the 4,238 super speciality seats in the country are in Tamil Nadu. Of the 594 seats, the state shared 50% with the Centre for admission through All-India quota. The state selection committee handles the remaining 50% admission through single window counselling.

In the past few years, several non-service candidates who completed their course failed to join duty despite several reminders and revision in posting. Some went “missing” even before posting, while other took the post orders but went incommunicado soon after. Officials in the directorate of medical education said the state has so far refrained from initiating legal action as the aim was to get these doctors to serve in GHs.

TN needs super speciality medical officers to run the 26 government medical college and hospital, where treatment including highend organ transplants and cochlear implants are done free of cost. The government has also gotten approval for 11 new medical colleges in districts and will need specialists to start more super speciality courses. “This is one of the reasons why we want to reserve at least 50% of seats for our in-service doctors. If we do that we will be able to strengthen our healthcare system and offer quality medical care free of cost to people across the state. If all doctors serve GHs, we will be able to break the urban-rural divide in tertiary care,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

But officials are now discussing serving legal notice to candidates who did not join duty. “We want to show we mean business. They have to join duty or pay the fine. It may lead to legal battles, but we are confident we will be able to prove ourselves right in the court,” said a senior official at the directorate of medical education.